Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,297 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $326,000.
Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FB. First Financial Corp IN boosted its position in Facebook by 0.5% in the first quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,436 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp boosted its position in Facebook by 1.0% in the first quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 2,124 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Barrington Strategic Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its position in Facebook by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Barrington Strategic Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,015 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Cordasco Financial Network raised its stake in Facebook by 1.5% in the first quarter. Cordasco Financial Network now owns 2,029 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Donald L. Hagan LLC raised its stake in Facebook by 0.8% in the first quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $602,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. 57.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) traded down 1.82% during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $166.91. 17,201,962 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged. Facebook, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.55 and a 52 week high of $175.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $163.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $148.40. The stock has a market cap of $484.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.36 and a beta of 0.70.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The social networking company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.19. Facebook had a return on equity of 21.73% and a net margin of 38.84%. The business had revenue of $9.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. Facebook’s quarterly revenue was up 44.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Facebook, Inc. will post $5.33 earnings per share for the current year.
A number of research firms have issued reports on FB. UBS AG reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Facebook in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Cowen and Company reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Facebook in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up from $163.00) on shares of Facebook in a report on Thursday, July 27th. MKM Partners restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (up from $180.00) on shares of Facebook in a report on Monday, August 7th. Finally, Pivotal Research lowered shares of Facebook from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, forty-two have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.47.
In other Facebook news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.03, for a total value of $2,368,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 221,328 shares in the company, valued at $32,763,183.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 279,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.04, for a total value of $42,500,197.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,763,626 shares of company stock valued at $1,554,401,395 over the last quarter. 19.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.
About Facebook
Facebook, Inc is focused on building products that enable people to connect and share through mobile devices, personal computers and other surfaces. The Company’s products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Oculus. Facebook enables people to connect, share, discover and communicate with each other on mobile devices and personal computers.
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